Clear coat before decals?? Need quick answer

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I sprayed a covered hopper yesterday morning with floquil paint. It came out pretty smooth and has quite a bit of gloss. Never seen floquil this glossy. I am inclined to just decal this thing, or am I asking for trouble be not spraying a gloss coat on it??

Thanks
Tim

2

If you already have a glossy coat, go for it. You can then just overspray with a clear coat to achieve the desired finish. You still will want to use a decal setting solution. Good luck!!

3

Depends. Is it glossy enough? Seriously. I have decalled P2K undec tenders without prepping, but it took a little more MicroSol than usual. Turned out fine though.

4

Experienced Military kit builders usually spray (preferred) or brush on a coat of Future Floor Wax before decaling.

5

Shouldn’t need it I never do and my paint jobs look great (if I do say so myself). I use Polly Scale and just put on a good coat of Dullcoat and it makes the decals dissapear.
James[C):-)]

6

You never want to apply decals to a flat finish…
Glosscoat it, decal it, and then apply flat finish.
Good luck,
gtr

7

Agreed, shoot a coat of gloss over the model before you put on the decals. You won’t be sorry!

8

I have had great results spraying on a thin coat of Future floor polish.

Dave H.

9

I went ahead and put the decals on, looks great so far. To clarify a little the paint definatly was not flat. I could have sprayed some gloss on it but I am still trying to become cometent with an air brush. Most of my jobe have been fairly rough and dry looking, tryed out some different techniques with this one, smooth and glossy. I am also in a hurry to get some of these progects done as I am moving to my new (and first) basment next week.

I guess my main question is, is it comon to get floquil that glossy??

Also with the future wax does it need to be thined with anything to be sparyable? And how long to let it dry before decaling?

Thanks for all the speedy answers

Tim

10

The Future Floor Wax is used straight from the bottle.

Also if have a clear part with minor scratches, diping it in Future will fill and hide them.

This site has good info[8D]:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

11

Thanx for that future wax tip guys! I’ll have to try that.